AuthorTopic: Villa has danced with relegation (Read 69 times)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins finally flexed their offensive muscles. And they needed every bit of scoring they could muster. Malkin had a hat trick and the Penguins almost blew a four-goal lead before holding off the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Monday night to clinch their first-round playoff series in six games. "Its more important that we win the game and (end) the series," Malkin said of the 10th time hes scored three times in a game in his career. "Going into the second round now, you feel so much better when you have confidence. I hope in the next round I can score more." Pittsburgh awaits the winner of the New York-Philadelphia series, with the Rangers leading 3-2 going into Tuesday nights Game 6. Its a good thing for the Penguins that Malkin -- scoreless in his past nine playoff games including the first five in the series -- finally found the net. The Blue Jackets, closer to making tee times than thinking about a Game 7, scored three times in a 4:52 span in the third period to turn up the pressure on the Penguins, an overwhelming favourite before the series got under way. "Were a proud group in here," forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "We didnt want to get embarrassed on home ice. If it was going to be our last game of the season, we didnt want to have any quit. We didnt have any quit in this locker room all season. We just kept pushing and pushing." Brandon Sutter also scored before leaving with an injury and Matt Niskanen had two assists as the Penguins became the first team in the series to score first and win -- but barely. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves and made a couple of big stops after the game turned into a squeaker. "It was a good test," he said of the wild last few minutes. Coach Dan Bylsma said the toe-to-toe matchup heralded a new level of contentious play between the teams. "Weve got a rivalry going here with the Jackets," he said. "They gave us everything we could handle and it was a nice series for them. That was an extremely tough first-round opponent." Fedor Tyutin, Artem Anisimov and Nick Foligno scored for Columbus, Folignos redirect of a Tyutin shot cut the gap to a goal with 4:47 left. A crowd of 19,189 stood and roared the rest of the way as the Blue Jackets piled up scoring chances. The Penguins were hard pressed to fight off the aggressive Blue Jackets after goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who also had 24 saves, was pulled for an extra attacker with under 2 minutes left. Matt Calvert was wide with a potential tying shot with 3:30 left. Dubinskys shot with 35 seconds left was deflected by Fleury. Columbus had overcome a 3-0 deficit at home in Game 4, scoring on a Fleury gaffe in the final seconds of regulation before Foligno won it in the overtime. "After we got the third goal, anything could happen," coach Todd Richards said. "We had done it the last time we played in the building. My thought was it was going to happen." Up until the last few minutes, it was Malkins game. He hadnt scored in the first 332:52 of the series, then scored three times in a span of 26:11. "I could see it coming in the morning skate," teammate James Neal said. "His shot was going into the back of the net." The Blue Jackets, one of the NHLs youngest teams, looked hopeless until Tyutins shot from the right dot ended Fleurys shutout streak at 97:26 -- since the Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the first period of Game 5. But then Anisimov scored from the left point with 6:06 remaining to make it 4-2 and Foligno redirected a Tyutin shot to cut the lead to 4-3. "That was a big win," said Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who went goal-less in the series. "Obviously we didnt want to make it as close as we did. But we found a way to win." Notes: The Penguins improved to 8-4 in Game 6s when up 3-2 in the playoffs. ... Columbus was without veteran forward (and Pittsburgh native) R.J. Umberger (shoulder). ... For the second game in a row, the Penguins didnt have D Brooks Orpik, sidelined with an undisclosed injury. ... Sutter was limping as he went to the dressing room in the second period. He did not return. Joe Vitale went knee-to-knee with a Blue Jacket early in the third and was in pain as he left the ice. Christian Jones Jersey . A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Prospals career was highlighted by him ranking fourth in points scored, third in assists and sixth in games played among all Czech Republic born players in NHL history. Anthony Zettel Jersey . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted Monday morning that Callahan - who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is now open to a six-year contract at less than $7 million per season. http://www.officialdetroitlionsfootball.com/authentic-levine-toilolo-jersey-womens.Cullen scored the go-ahead goal at 13:47 of the third period and Nashville beat the slumping Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday in a game that wasnt decided until the last shot of the night. Barry Sanders Jersey . The third-seeded Bouchard, from Westmount, Que., was coming off a semifinal appearance at the French Open. She took the opening set before the unseeded American came back for the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Nick Bellore Jersey . -- Even as Chris Paul remained evasive about his future, he did what team leaders are expected to do.PHILADELPHIA - Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff wasnt looking for one specific way to improve his team at the 2014 NHL draft. Instead, he focused on acquiring depth, of both players and picks, casting a wide net over the two days in Philadelphia. "We had a smattering of everything," said Cheveldayoff. "We got some high skill in the first round, we got a big two-way defenceman early today, and we picked up some more skill, some grit on the wing and then we got some big centremen at the end as well." The Jets made two trades as well, sending the 159th pick and the rights to goalie Eddie Pasquale to the Washington Capitals for the 164th and 192nd picks in this years draft and a seventh-round pick in 2015. The Jets also acquired Ottawas sixth-round pick in 2015 for their 189th pick this year. "We came in with seven picks, and we ended up picking seven players," said Cheveldayoff. "We stockpiled some picks for next years draft, and we did come in saying that if we felt we were going to get our players later in the draft that we could get to see if we could move down. "We ended up acquiring an extra pick when we moved the rights to Eddie Pasquale, so we had some picks that if we could find a way to move into next year to have those assets moving forward, that was something we were looking forward to." The Jets took Jack Glover from the United States under-18 team with the 69th overall pick, their highest pick on the second day of the draft. "Hes got good size, he moves very well, and hes a good two-way defenceman," said Cheveldayoff. "Getting him in the third round is something we were very excited about, becausee where we had him on our list was not in that realm.dddddddddddd When he was available we actually looked at trying to package something to move up into the later parts of the second round, but we couldnt find a match, so we were happy to get a player that we liked." "I like to push the pace," said the six-foot-three, 190-pound Glover, "and to get the puck to the forwards. I definitely think that Im a guy that relies on my skating and my vision, and I think those are my two biggest assets. Im not a big hitter, Im not a big bruiser, but I take great pride in my defensive game." With their fourth-round picks, the Jets took two players from the WHL: centre Chase De Leo from Portland and defenceman Nelson Nogier from Saskatoon. The team used its lone fifth-round pick on left wing Clinston Franklin of the USHL, and wrapped its activity in the sixth and seventh rounds with centre Pavel Kraskovsky from the Russia-Jr. team and centre/left wing Matt Ustaski from the BCHL. De Leo will join his childhood best friend and WHL rival, goalie Eric Comrie, as a Jets prospect. Comrie is the half-brother of NHL players Mike and Paul Comrie. "When we were 10 years old we had a piece of paper and we both signed it, saying that we were going to be teammates in the NHL one day," said De Leo. "Its pretty special and very exciting." Cheveldayoff likes the familiarity between the two prospects. "Its great to see the players in our organization have a bond already even before they get to development camp or training camp," said Cheveldayoff. "We are trying to build one family here, and its great to have a head start on it." China NFL JerseysCheap Nike NFL JerseysNFL Jerseys CheapWholesale NFL JerseysCheap Basketball Jerseys OnlineStitched Hockey JerseysWholesale Baseball JerseysFootball Jerseys OutletCollege Jerseys For SaleCheap MLB JerseysWholesale Soccer JerseysWholesale Jerseys For SaleWholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '